U.S. patent application number 14/563154 was filed with the patent office on 2015-06-11 for fan unit including vibration suppressing structure and electric motor.
The applicant listed for this patent is FANUC CORPORATION. Invention is credited to Masaki Miura.
Application Number | 20150159675 14/563154 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 53185448 |
Filed Date | 2015-06-11 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150159675 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Miura; Masaki |
June 11, 2015 |
FAN UNIT INCLUDING VIBRATION SUPPRESSING STRUCTURE AND ELECTRIC
MOTOR
Abstract
A fan unit (2) includes a fan housing (3), a fan motor (5)
provided in the fan housing, and a partition plate (4) that is
attached to a partition plate attachment surface (6a) of the fan
housing and that regulates air flow from the fan motor. A
protrusion portion (7) is provided on the partition plate
attachment surface of the fan housing.
Inventors: |
Miura; Masaki; (Yamanashi,
JP) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
FANUC CORPORATION |
Yamanashi |
|
JP |
|
|
Family ID: |
53185448 |
Appl. No.: |
14/563154 |
Filed: |
December 8, 2014 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
417/423.14 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F04D 29/668 20130101;
H02K 9/04 20130101; F04D 29/626 20130101; F04D 29/4226 20130101;
H02K 5/24 20130101; F04D 13/06 20130101; F04D 29/667 20130101 |
International
Class: |
F04D 29/66 20060101
F04D029/66; F04D 13/06 20060101 F04D013/06 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 11, 2013 |
JP |
2013-255946 |
Claims
1. A fan unit comprising: a fan housing; a fan motor provided in
the fan housing; and a partition plate that is attached to a
partition plate attachment surface of the fan housing and that
regulates air flow from the fan motor, wherein a protrusion portion
is provided on the partition plate attachment surface of the fan
housing.
2. The fan unit according to claim 1, wherein a distal end of the
protrusion portion contacting with the partition plate is a flat
surface.
3. The fan unit according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the
protrusion portions are provided.
4. The fan unit according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of the
protrusion portions are provided.
5. The fan unit according to claim 3, wherein a plurality of fixing
portions that fix the partition plate are provided on the partition
plate attachment surface, and a distance between one protrusion
portion out of a plurality of the protrusion portions and one
fixing portion closest to the one protrusion portion is equal to a
distance between a different protrusion portion out of a plurality
of the protrusion portions and a different fixing portion closest
to the different protrusion portion.
6. The fan unit according to claim 4, wherein a plurality of fixing
portions that fix the partition plate are provided on the partition
plate attachment surface, and a distance between one protrusion
portion out of a plurality of the protrusion portions and one
fixing portion closest to the one protrusion portion is equal to a
distance between a different protrusion portion out of a plurality
of the protrusion portions and a different fixing portion closest
to the different protrusion portion.
7. An electric motor comprising the fan unit according to claim
1.
8. An electric motor comprising the fan unit according to claim
2.
9. An electric motor comprising the fan unit according to claim
3.
10. An electric motor comprising the fan unit according to claim
4.
11. An electric motor comprising the fan unit according to claim
5.
12. An electric motor comprising the fan unit according to claim 6.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a fan unit provided in an
electric motor.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] In order to stably operate an electric motor, a fan unit
that supplies air flow to cool the electric motor is provided in
the electric motor. A fan motor includes a propeller fan or a
radial fan. When the fan motor includes a radial fan, a partition
plate that regulates air flow from the radial fan is necessary.
[0005] However, when an electric motor and a fan motor are
operated, vibration from the electric motor or the like may cause
the fan motor to vibrate, and cause a noise to be generated in some
cases. For this reason, according to Japanese Laid-open Patent
Publication No. 5-168188, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No.
9-196401, and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 11-69702, a
vibration-proof rubber is adopted to prevent vibration and a
noise.
[0006] However, since vibration-proof rubber needs to be added
according to Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 5-168188,
Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 9-196401, and Japanese
Laid-open Patent Publication No. 11-69702, the number of components
of the fan unit increases, and it is troublesome to maintain and
manage the components. Further, when a vibration-proof rubber is
worn out by use, vibration and the like are generated again, and
therefore vibration-proof rubber needs to be replaced.
[0007] In view of the above circumstances, the present invention
has been completed and the objective thereof is to provide a fan
unit that can prevent vibration and noise without vibration-proof
rubber.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] In order to accomplish the above-described objective,
according to a first aspect, there is provided a fan unit including
a fan housing, a fan motor provided in the fan housing, and a
partition plate that is attached to a partition plate attachment
surface of the fan housing and that regulates air flow from the fan
motor, wherein a protrusion portion is provided on the partition
plate attachment surface of the fan housing.
[0009] According to a second aspect, in the first aspect, a distal
end of the protrusion portion contacting with the partition plate
is a flat surface.
[0010] According to a third aspect, in the first or second aspect,
a plurality of the protrusion portions are provided.
[0011] According to a fourth aspect, in the third aspect, a
plurality of fixing portions that fix the partition plate are
provided on the partition plate attachment surface, and a distance
between one protrusion portion out of a plurality of the protrusion
portions and one fixing portion closest to the one protrusion
portion is equal to a distance between a different protrusion
portion out of a plurality of the protrusion portions and a
different fixing portion closest to the different protrusion
portion.
[0012] According to a fifth aspect, there is provided an electric
motor including a fan unit according to any one of the first to
fourth aspects.
[0013] These objectives, features, and advantages, as well as
additional objectives, features, and advantages of the present
invention will become more apparent from detailed description of
exemplary embodiments of the present invention illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0014] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electric motor to which a
fan unit is provided according to the present invention;
[0015] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a partial section of the fan
unit according to the present invention;
[0016] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a partial section when seen
along a line A-A in FIG. 2, in a state where a partition plate and
a fan motor are removed;
[0017] FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a fan housing of the fan unit
according to one embodiment of the present invention;
[0018] FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the fan housing of FIG. 4 in a
state where the partition plate is attached; and
[0019] FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a fan housing of a fan unit
according to another embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0020] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention is
described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the
following drawings, the same reference symbols are used to the same
members. To make it easier to understand, reduced scales of these
drawings have been appropriately changed.
[0021] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electric motor to which a
fan unit is provided according to the present invention. An
electric motor 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 is a motor that drives a
main shaft and a feed shaft of a machine tool, or each shaft of a
robot, for example. As illustrated in FIG. 1, a fan unit 2 is
provided in a back surface of the electric motor 1. The fan unit 2
is used to perform an action such as air blow to the electric motor
1 and discharge of heat generated by the electric motor 1 to stably
operate the electric motor 1.
[0022] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a partial section of the fan
unit according to the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 2,
the fan unit 2 mainly includes a fan housing 3, and a radial-type
fan motor 5 arranged in the fan housing 3. At an opening portion of
the fan housing 3, a partition plate 4 having a shape corresponding
to the opening portion is provided.
[0023] FIG. 2 illustrates that the partition plate 4 is provided so
as to be concentric with the fan motor 5. The partition plate 4
plays a role of passing, through a through hole of the partition
plate 4, air flow sent from the fan motor 5 to regulate the air
flow. The partition plate 4 is arranged between the fan motor 5 and
the electric motor 1 (not illustrated in FIG. 2), so that the air
flow sent from the fan motor 5 passes through the partition plate 4
to be supplied to the electric motor 1, or to discharge heat
generated by the electric motor 1, to cool the electric motor
1.
[0024] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a partial section when seen
along a line A-A in FIG. 2, in a state where the partition plate
and the fan motor are removed. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the fan
housing 3 includes a partition plate attachment surface 6a
extending from an outer edge thereof toward the radial inside, an
inner circumferential surface 6b extending from an inner edge of
the partition plate attachment surface 6a in the axial direction,
and a bottom surface 6c connected to the inner circumferential
surface 6b and closing the fan motor 5. In the bottom surface 6c, a
plurality of holes are regularly formed. In the embodiment
illustrated in the drawings, the inner circumferential surface 6b
of the fan housing 3 has an approximately octagonal shape. However,
the inner circumferential surface 6b may have another shape, such
as, a circular shape, a rectangular shape, or a hexagonal
shape.
[0025] In FIG. 3, screw holes 8 are formed at corner portions of
the partition plate attachment surface 6a of the fan housing 3. As
seen by comparing FIG. 2 with FIG. 3, a plurality of, for example,
four screws 9 are made to pass through corner portions of the
partition plate 4 to threadedly engage with the screw holes 8,
respectively. Thereby, the partition plate 4 is attached to the
opening portion of the fan housing 3. In FIG. 3, other screw holes
10 located at positions more outer than positions of the screw
holes 8 are illustrated. The screw holes 10 are used for fixing the
fan unit 2 to the back surface of the electric motor 1 (refer to
FIG. 1).
[0026] As illustrated in FIG. 3, protrusion portions 7 that
protrude from the partition plate attachment surface 6a of the fan
housing 3 are provided on the partition plate attachment surface
6a. Each of the protrusion portions 7 is formed at an approximately
center of one side of the opening portion of the fan housing 3. The
fan housing 3 includes four protrusion portions 7 on the partition
plate attachment surface 6a. It is preferable that the protrusion
portions 7 are arranged so as to be bilaterally symmetric with
respect to a diameter of the fan housing 3 or rotationally
symmetric with respect to a center line of the fan housing 3.
[0027] FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the fan housing of the fan
unit according to the one embodiment of the present invention. In
FIG. 4 and FIG. 6 described below, illustration of the partition
plate 4 and the fan motor 5 is omitted for the purpose of making it
easier to understand. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the protrusion
portion 7 is an elongated protrusion extending parallel with the
outer edge of the fan housing 3. It is preferable that the
protrusion portion 7 has a relatively small height and a relatively
large width. Moreover, for the purpose of easy fabrication, it is
also preferable that a depth of the protrusion portion 7 is
relatively small.
[0028] FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the fan housing of FIG. 4 in a
state where the partition plate is attached. As illustrated in FIG.
5, the screws 9 fix the partition plate 4 to the screw holes 8 of
the fan housing 3. The protrusion portion 7 protrudes from the
partition plate attachment surface 6a so that a distal end of the
protrusion portion 7 is located at a position higher than the
partition plate attachment surface 6a. For this reason, when the
screws 9 are made to threadedly engage with the screw holes 8 to
attach the partition plate 4 to the partition plate attachment
surface 6a, the partition plate 4 is pressed against the protrusion
portion 7. Accordingly, the partition plate 4 is convexly warped
upward in the vicinity of the center of the side portion of the
partition plate 4.
[0029] In other words, the partition plate 4 is forcibly pressed
against the partition plate attachment surface 6a of the fan
housing 3. For this reason, the partition plate 4 and the fan
housing 3 are substantially integrated, which can suppress
vibration and a noise between the partition plate 4 and the fan
housing 3. Therefore, in the present invention, a vibration-proof
rubber adopted in the prior art can be removed. As a result, cost
can be reduced, the fan unit 2 can be easily manufactured, and
manufacturing time can be decreased.
[0030] Further, as described above, the protrusion portion 7 is an
elongated protrusion extending in parallel with the outer edge of
the fan housing 3. The distal end of the protrusion portion 7 is
configured as a flat surface. Accordingly, when the partition plate
4 is attached, the distal end of the protrusion portion 7 is
brought into a surface contact with the partition plate 4. For this
reason, it will be clarified that in the present invention,
vibration and a noise can be suppressed more than compared with a
case where the distal end of the protrusion portion 7 has a point
contact with the partition plate 4.
[0031] Furthermore, FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a fan housing of
a fan unit according to another embodiment of the present
invention. In FIG. 6, two protrusion portions 7a and 7b are formed
side by side at the center of one side of an opening portion of the
fan housing 3. In other words, in the embodiment illustrated in
FIG. 6, two protrusion portions 7a and 7b are arranged on each of
four sides of the opening portion of the fan housing 3. It is
preferable that pairs of the protrusion portions 7a and 7b are
arranged so as to be bilaterally symmetric with respect to a
diameter of the fan housing 3 or rotationally symmetric with
respect to a center line of the fan housing 3.
[0032] In FIG. 6, a distance La between one protrusion portion 7a
and the left-side screw hole 8 neighboring the one protrusion
portion 7a is equal to a distance Lb between the other protrusion
portion 7b and the right-side screw hole 8 neighboring the other
protrusion portion 7b. This is applied to the other sides, as well,
even though not illustrated in the drawings.
[0033] When a plurality of protrusion portions 7a and 7b are
provided on one side of the opening portion of the fan housing 3,
each of the plurality of protrusion portions 7a and 7b is pressed
against the partition plate. Accordingly, it will be clarified that
vibration and noise can be more suppressed compared with a case of
providing a single protrusion portion 7 (FIG. 4).
[0034] Further, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6, positions
of the two protrusion portions 7a and 7b are bilaterally symmetric
in the direction of one side of the opening portion of the fan
housing 3. In other words, the two protrusion portions 7a and 7b
maintain the balance in right and left so that vibration and noise
can be more suppressed.
EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION
[0035] According to the first aspect, since the protrusion portion
is provided on the partition plate attachment surface, the
partition plate is pressed against the protrusion portion to be
slightly warped when the partition plate is attached. In other
words, the partition plate is forcibly pressed against the fan
housing. For this reason, the partition plate and the fan housing
are substantially integrated so that vibration and noise can be
suppressed between the partition plate and the fan housing.
Therefore, vibration-proof rubber can be removed.
[0036] According to the second aspect, the distal end of the
protrusion portion is brought into surface contact with the
partition plate. Accordingly, an effect to suppress vibration and a
noise can be more stably obtained.
[0037] According to the third aspect, each of a plurality of the
protrusion portions is pressed against the partition plate, thereby
suppressing vibration and a noise more.
[0038] According to the fourth aspect, distances between the
respective protrusion portions and the corresponding fixing
portions are equal to each other, thereby suppressing vibration and
a noise more.
[0039] According to the fifth aspect, an electric motor in which
vibration and noise are suppressed can be provided.
[0040] In the above, the present invention is described by using
the exemplary embodiments. However, a person skilled in the art
will understand that the above-described modification, and various
other modification, omission, and addition can be made without
departing from the scope of the present invention.
* * * * *